Category Archives: Recycling

On February 22, 2011, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch, New Zealand leaving 185 people dead ¹, and making it the third costliest earthquake, ever, worldwide.
All of the destruction caused by the deadly quake included more than $15 billion NZ for insurers to rebuild, but the rebuilding could not start until the debris was taken away.
Cement, brick, plastic, paper, wood, drywall… Separating all of the material looked like quite a daunting task at first glance.
The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament
Nikau Contractors, Ltd. is a demolition and salvage company out of New Zealand. They have been in business for 31 years and specialize in this type of processing. They had been in contact with CEC regarding a Separate-It® RWS 2000 Rock/ Wood Separator prior; but it was only a few days after the quake that a Nikau rep was back in contact with an understandable new sense of urgency for the plant.
Separate-It® RWS 2000 in Christchurch
Once the Separate-It® arrived in New Zealand, it had much work to do. The quake left one third of the buildings in Christchurch facing demolition². Businesses, government offices, residential neighborhoods and churches- one of the worst natural disasters in New Zealand’s history did not discriminate.
Feedpile of Earthquake Debris